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User:JPRiley/Lew

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Lew & Patnaude
Practice information
PartnersAllen Y. Lew FAIA, William E. Patnaude FAIA
FoundersAllen Y. Lew
Founded1952
Dissolved2013
LocationFresno, California
The University Student Union of California State University, Fresno, designed by Lew in the Brutalist style and completed in 1968.
The Library of California State University, Fresno, designed by Lew & Patnaude in the Brutalist style and completed in 1980.
The Fresno City Hall, designed by Arthur Erickson and Lew & Patnaude in the Postmodern style and completed in 1992.

Lew & Patnaude, formally Allen Y. Lew & William E. Patnaude, was an American architectural firm active in Fresno, California. It was established in 1952 as the sole proprietorship of architect Allen Y. Lew and expanded to a partnership in 1975 to include architect William E. Patnaude. The firm was responsible for major projects throughout the Central Valley including much of the campus of the California State University, Fresno and the Fresno City Hall, and was dissolved in 2013.

Firm history

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Lew opened an architects' office in Fresno in 1952. In 1968 he reorganized the firm as Allen Y. Lew Associates, reflecting the addition of Padnaude and Harry A. Chinn as associates.[1] By 1975 the firm became Allen Y. Lew & William E. Patnaude, or Lew & Patnaude.[2] In 1985 Padnaude became president of the firm.[3]

Many of the firm's works were the receipient of awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and other bodies, beginning with the terminal of what is now the Fresno Yosemite International Airport in 1962.[4] In 1986 the firm, along with Edwin S. Darden Associates of Fresno and Arthur Erickson of Vancouver and Los Angeles, was selected as architects of the new Fresno City Hall. The design was led by Erickson with general oversight of the project being led by Patnaude, Darden having withdrew early in the process. The building, dedicated in 1992, was controversial with the public but was well-received by the architectural profession.[5][6] Lew died in 1993, and the firm was dissolved in 2013, twenty years later.[7]

In 1976 the firm bought the Rehorn House, built in 1906, and restored it for use as their architectural offices. On their behalf, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was destroyed by fire in 2016.[8][9]

Biographies

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Allen Y. Lew

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Allen Yuen Lew FAIA (November 6, 1912 – January 17, 1993) was born November 6, 1912, in Fresno to Lew Yuen and Lena Lew, née Wong. His father had immigrated to California from China circa 1881 at the age of 16, shortly before the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act.[10] Lew was educated in the Fresno public schools and at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1935 with an AB. He worked for Fresno architects David H. Horn and Franklin & Kump until the outbreak of World War II, during which he worked for the Douglas Aircraft Company in Los Angeles. After the war he formed the firm of Lambert & Lew, general contractors. Seeking to return to architecture, he was licensed as an architect in 1952 and opened an architects' office.[11][2]

Lew was a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He held several chapter offices and was elected a Fellow in 1972.[11][2] He was also a member of local fraternal and Chinese-American organizations.[12]

Lew was married in 1939 to Lillie Lee. They had three children. He died in Fresno at the age of 80.[2][12]

William E. Patnaude

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William Eugene Patnaude FAIA (September 24, 1937 – March 11, 2016) was born in Sanger to Joseph Patnaude and Vera Mae Patnaude, née Giles. He was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1961 with a BArch. He initially joined Lew's office in Fresno before moving to the office of Robert Stevens Associates in Santa Cruz in 1963 and to that of Llewellyn Davies, Weeks & Partners in London in 1966 before returning to Lew in 1967.[3][9]

In addition to his practice, Patnaude was instructor at the California State University, Fresno from 1968 to 1981.[3] Like Yew, Patnaude was a member of the AIA. He was elected a Fellow in 1984 and filled several leadership roles at the chapter, state and national levels. He was a member of the AIA board of directors from 1983 to 1985.[3]

Patnaude was married in 1971 to Mary Esther Simerly. They had two children, both sons, and divorced in 1987.[3] He died in Fresno at the age of 79.[9]

Architectural works

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Notes

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  1. ^ Designed by Arthur Erickson Architects, architects, with Allen Y. Lew & William E. Patnaude, associate architects. Principally designed by Erickson.

References

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  1. ^ "New Firms, Firm Changes" in Architectural Record (November, 1968): 106.
  2. ^ a b c d "Lew, Allen Yuen" in Who's Who in America, 41st ed. (Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1980): 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Patnaude, William Eugene" in Who's Who in America, 64th ed. (New Providence: Marquis Who's Who, 2009): 3605.
  4. ^ a b Canty, Donald (July 1962). "New airport design, in the U.S. and abroad" (PDF). Architectural Forum. No. 117. p. 80. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Jerry Bier, "Council chooses site, architects for city hall," Fresno Bee, November 5, 1986, A1 and A14.
  6. ^ a b Jim Steinberg, "Zing! It's like a wake-up call," Fresno Bee, February 16, 1992, A1 and A21.
  7. ^ California corporate filings, no date. Accessed August 21, 2024.
  8. ^ Rehorn House NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form (1982)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "Fresno architect remembered for his futuristic City Hall," Fresno Bee, March 13, 2016, 3A and 5A.
  10. ^ "Lew Yuen, 89, county resident for 65 years, dies," Fresno Bee, December 14, 1954, 10B.
  11. ^ a b Lew, Allen Y., Membership Files, The American Institute of Architects Archives, The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects, s.v. “Lew, Allen Y.,” (ahd1026448), https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA (accessed August 21, 2024).
  12. ^ a b c d "Architect Allen Yuen Lew, 80, designer of Fresno Air Terminal," Fresno Bee, January 19, 1993, D10.
  13. ^ "Chinese church in California" in Architectural Record (September, 1963): 10.
  14. ^ "Printing plant becomes a club" in Architecture (February, 1984): 50-53.


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